New tank cycle help please!

[Jdc88]

So far i have all I have is live sand, salt, stock filter and a heater in the tank. I ordered some dry rock (should be in tues). My questions are

 

1. Should i install my skimmer and my upgraded media filter (purigen and chemi-pure) or wait till the tank is cycled?

2. Is there anything i need to do to cycle the tank or just wait for the live sand to complete the cycle?

3. When do i add the dry rock?

 

Also my lfs sold me 1 bag of Purigen and 1 bag of PhosNet and 2 containers of chemi-pure. Was i supposed to get 2 bags of purigen or am i supposed to use the PhosNet?

[fishfreak0114]

It's up to you when to start using skimmer and media. I personally would leave the media out until the cycle is complete as it may slow the process down. You can leave s raw table shrimp or similar, even just some fish food (that's what I did) in the tank to decay and cause ammonia. You can add the dry rock right away, I'd rinse it first to get rid of dust etc., but get it in and scape away, it's another for the good bacteria to colonize. Best of luck ?

[rm420]

FWIW, I've only been in this hobby for a couple months, but here's my opinion.

 

You can add the dry rock whenever, and I personally would add it asap, as there's no reason to wait.

 

Depending on tank size, and how many lbs of live sand you used, it's hard to know whether or not there's enough die-off to initiate and complete a cycle. It never hurts to take a regular table shrimp of X size (again, depends on tank size), and drop it in the tank. Not sure if you've heard this method, but I used said method to cycle my 40 breeder. Works quite well. Gets the job done in 3-4 weeks. I was also dosing Seachem Stability. It's not needed, and the cycle will complete without it, but it definitely can't hurt the process. I would add the dry rock before doing this process, as you want the bacteria to colonize on the rock as well.

 

As for the skimmer, I started the cycle, waited three weeks, and then turned the skimmer on. The skimmer was running 1 week prior to me adding fish.

 

Just my experience.

[davidanthony921]

Imho I would add the dry rock immediately. Ideally if you could buy some live rock to help seed the dry rock it would benefit you and it would probably speed up your cycle. Aside from that you don't have to do anything. I would wait to add the skimmer as well. From what I've read it could possibly slow the cycle. And I wouldn't put the media in yet. It's kind of a waste at this point. Good luck and I hope I helped. Enjoy but be careful it gets ADDICTING.

[cromag27]

I would have added the rock first, then the sand. hold off on skimming and anything else until it's cycled. Lights aren't needed while cycling either. the most efficient way to cycle is with pure 100% ammonia. I've cycled tanks in as little as 2 weeks using ammonia.

[markalot]

So far i have all I have is live sand, salt, stock filter and a heater in the tank. I ordered some dry rock (should be in tues). My questions are

 

1. Should i install my skimmer and my upgraded media filter (purigen and chemi-pure) or wait till the tank is cycled?

2. Is there anything i need to do to cycle the tank or just wait for the live sand to complete the cycle?

3. When do i add the dry rock?

 

Also my lfs sold me 1 bag of Purigen and 1 bag of PhosNet and 2 containers of chemi-pure. Was i supposed to get 2 bags of purigen or am i supposed to use the PhosNet?

 

I doubt you have live sand, even if it said it was live sand. The best way to approach this is to understand what is going on when a tank cycles.

 

Bacteria does the job of converting ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate (also nitrate to nitrogen gas, but we deal with that later). These bacteria need food to survive, otherwise they die. So you need an ammonia source in order to cycle a tank. Live sand is suppose to have some of this bacteria and some living and dead critters that will produce small amounts of ammonia, but these amounts are pretty small. The bacteria needed are in the air so at least you don't have to hunt that down. Just provide the ammonia source and time and the tank will cycle.

 

The bacteria also need a place to live. In a reef tank this is on the rock, as well as sand, tank walls, filters, any place with good flow. We provide flow inside the tank in order to make the rock a good place to host the bacteria.

 

Lots of these questions have been asked before, this forum has a lot of answers and looking at other posts will probably answer most of your questions. Good luck!

[Jdc88]

You have all truly been a lot of help. Thanks for the info. I guess i will wait to add a dead shrimp until tues when i recieve my dry rock.

[markalot]

You have all truly been a lot of help. Thanks for the info. I guess i will wait to add a dead shrimp until tues when i recieve my dry rock.

 

Checkout Walmart or whatever you have nearby. A lot of times stores will sell a cheap pure ammonia with no perfume or surficant added which can be used as a source. Use sparingly! Better then floating a dead shrimp.

[cromag27]

Correct. pure ammonia is the way to go. people will sometimes get a false cycle when using shrimp.

[Jdc88]

Correct. pure ammonia is the way to go. people will sometimes get a false cycle when using shrimp.

Pure ammonia? What about Dr. Tims?

[cromag27]

Gimmicky.

These are the directions I give people when cycling a tank:

 

After the tank has been set up, add five drops of ammonia per ten gallons into the water on a daily basis.

 

Ammonia will rise to five ppm and higher. As soon as nitrites are measurable, reduce the ammonia input to three drops per day. Nitrites will rise to similar levels. Keep adding two to three drops until the measurements of ammonia and nitrites come out with zero ppm. The tank has then completely cycled.

 

Seeding the tank can significantly enhance this process. It is possible for a cycle to complete in seven days with seeding; otherwise this method takes two to three weeks.

[waveland]

Wow cromag, I wish I had seen your formula!!

 

I just cycled with a one inch chunk of shrimp in an old pantyhose in a 30 gallon IM tank. My ammonia dropped to zero on day 11 and my nitrites dropped to zero on day 19. You can add the dry rock asap and get your reefscape set/started.

 

Welcome to the hobby/addiction! I watch my tank these days more then I watch my tv.....which isn't a bad thing

[cromag27]

One problem with the shrimp method is that you have to wait for it to rot before it creates ammonia. and what if it doesn't create enough ammonia to cycle efficiently? it obviously can work but it has its drawbacks. pure ammonia can be purchased at most hardware stores.

 

Have you checked out your tank when the lights go out? try it with a red flashlight.

[markalot]

I would caution to watch the ammonia level and keep it around 2ppm or lower. I thought the bacteria that processes nitrite had issues with really high ammonia. Someone doing testing with fishless cycling in freshwater found a slowdown in the nitrite phase if ammonia was raised much above 2ppm.

[cromag27]

I would caution to watch the ammonia level and keep it around 2ppm or lower. I thought the bacteria that processes nitrite had issues with really high ammonia. Someone doing testing with fishless cycling in freshwater found a slowdown in the nitrite phase if ammonia was raised much above 2ppm.

 

Interesting. I hadn't heard of this before. but, another reason why controlled dosing of ammonia could be way more beneficial and accurate, than other methods.